Death Cab For A Cutie - The New Year

Death Cab for A Cutie - The New Year

Genre - Alternative

Lyrics

So this is the new year.
And I don't feel any different.
The clanking of crystal
Explosions off in the distance (in the distance).

So this is the new year
And I have no resolutions
For self assigned penance
For problems with easy solutions

So everybody put your best suit or dress on
Let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once
Lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
As thirty dialouges bleed into one

I wish the world was flat like the old days
Then i could travel just by folding a map
No more airplanes, or speedtrains, or freeways
There'd be no distance that can hold us back.

There'd be no distance that could hold us back [x2]

So this is the new year [x4]

Interpretation

Well the reason why I choose this song is sort of evident due to the dying end of 2007. I think this is a song that can change meaning depending on your mood. Hey if I was thinking positive, this song would be energizing, allowing for stimulating growth for the New Year. However it is just self perpetuating thoughts on my stagnant life.

An elegant introduction of guitars, drums, and bass fade with the soft vocals of the lead singer. It’s Death’s vocal singer that always grabs my attention. His light and ethereal voice is always perfectly harmonizes with the songs.

The first two stanzas frame the story of this song. I would like to think of it as the shitty present, where you are stuck in your dead end job, without a plan, and without hope. It’s that moment on Jan 1 where you look at the mirror and realize you’re still in the exact same place you were last year. Then you drink.

The song changes with a loud best described zoooooorm sound, which emphases the shift in the song. The tempo speeds up slightly maybe that’s the sound of hope and dreams? Oh no, it’s just an escape to the happy past. Did you know that people remember their past as more pleasant than when they were in that time period? Yah, it’s a scientific study that I can’t cite, but its true!

These two stanza’s are more day dream scenarios, “lighting up firecrackers on the front lawn”? That’s dangerous!

Death Cab makes a not so subtle commentary on the idea of social distance and hierarchy. Is our society really screwed up? Much more than the past? When I think of the lovely Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, and other “stars” that got famous for leading a trashy lifestyle… Yes we are pretty screwed up.

However even if the distance was taken away would our society still benefit to its full extent?

I don’t think so. And the ending to this wonderful song is not firm but a waning of sounds to the faded end. Just like every New Year.